Fold equity
Fold equity is the part of a bet or raise that earns its money from the chance the opponent folds, rather than from the chance you hold the best hand.
It is what makes aggression worth more than passivity with the same cards. Calling can only win by having the better hand at the end. Betting can win that way as well, and it can also win right now.
How much fold equity you have is not fixed. It depends on the opponent, the board, the size of the bet and what you have done earlier in the hand, and against a player who never folds it is close to zero however good the bet looks.
an example
your cards
board
You have nine cards that make the best flush, worth 35.0% by the river. Raising here can win two ways: the opponent folds now, or they call and a heart comes. The first way is the fold equity, and it is added on top of the equity the cards already have.
This example is made up. The real one is in your own hand history: find fold equity in your own hands and see how often it came up and what it cost you.
related terms
Semi-bluff
A semi-bluff is a bet or raise with a hand that is probably not the best right now but can still improve, so it can win ...
Bluff
A bluff is a bet or raise made with a hand that is unlikely to win at a showdown, so all of its profit comes from the ch ...
EV
Expected value, or EV, is the average result of a decision if you could repeat it many times: every outcome multiplied b ...
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Knowing the word is not the same as seeing it.
Forty hands against a bot, no account, and your own hand history at the end.